WitmerLab at Ohio University
@witmerlab.bsky.social
21st-century approaches to fleshing out the past! Mission: to use the structure of past & present animals to interpret evolutionary history...and to share it!
Just finished this awesome new-ish book by @nicolasmathevon.bsky.social on animal communication. It covers a lot of ground with a huge diversity of species—& it's a blast to read! Great for those interested in sensory ecology. (I had skulls of all the cover animals, so I snapped a photo! 😃)
January 14, 2026 at 6:23 PM
Just finished this awesome new-ish book by @nicolasmathevon.bsky.social on animal communication. It covers a lot of ground with a huge diversity of species—& it's a blast to read! Great for those interested in sensory ecology. (I had skulls of all the cover animals, so I snapped a photo! 😃)
T. rex is more closely related to this little dinosaur (a hummingbird) than T. rex is to Allosaurus. Also, a hummingbird's humerus is way smaller than it's eyeball. Go home, evolution, you're drunk! 🦖
January 9, 2026 at 8:54 PM
T. rex is more closely related to this little dinosaur (a hummingbird) than T. rex is to Allosaurus. Also, a hummingbird's humerus is way smaller than it's eyeball. Go home, evolution, you're drunk! 🦖
30 yrs ago today, a blizzard paralyzed the whole East Coast, closing Ohio University & all roads. But I still had an NSF grant deadline, so I trudged the three miles to campus to get it done and submitted. It was my first major proposal in my new job—dubbed "the DinoNose Project." Got the grant!
January 8, 2026 at 10:53 PM
30 yrs ago today, a blizzard paralyzed the whole East Coast, closing Ohio University & all roads. But I still had an NSF grant deadline, so I trudged the three miles to campus to get it done and submitted. It was my first major proposal in my new job—dubbed "the DinoNose Project." Got the grant!
Happy New Year from your friends at WitmerLab! 🎉
As hope for 2026, here's the beautiful skeleton of a mōlī (Laysan albatross). May it bring us all the wisdom of Wisdom, the 75-yo mōlī—the oldest known wild bird who still returns to Midway Atoll annually to nest & breed! 1/3
As hope for 2026, here's the beautiful skeleton of a mōlī (Laysan albatross). May it bring us all the wisdom of Wisdom, the 75-yo mōlī—the oldest known wild bird who still returns to Midway Atoll annually to nest & breed! 1/3
January 1, 2026 at 6:30 PM
Happy New Year from your friends at WitmerLab! 🎉
As hope for 2026, here's the beautiful skeleton of a mōlī (Laysan albatross). May it bring us all the wisdom of Wisdom, the 75-yo mōlī—the oldest known wild bird who still returns to Midway Atoll annually to nest & breed! 1/3
As hope for 2026, here's the beautiful skeleton of a mōlī (Laysan albatross). May it bring us all the wisdom of Wisdom, the 75-yo mōlī—the oldest known wild bird who still returns to Midway Atoll annually to nest & breed! 1/3
Here's our #TopNine #Top9 posts on BlueSky for 2025 based on engagement metrics. More theropod dinosaurs—especially tyrannosaurs—this year than in previous years. We posted about other things, but these are what y'all seemed to go for. Looking forward to what 2026 brings to our lab!
December 31, 2025 at 9:12 PM
From all your friends at WitmerLab at Ohio University, have a Merry Christmas, a happy holiday season, and a safe and productive new year! 🎄 ☃️🎅
This year, Jane the tyrannosaur received the special gift of being designated the holotype of a new species of Nanotyrannus, N. lethaeus! 🦖
This year, Jane the tyrannosaur received the special gift of being designated the holotype of a new species of Nanotyrannus, N. lethaeus! 🦖
December 25, 2025 at 12:35 PM
From all your friends at WitmerLab at Ohio University, have a Merry Christmas, a happy holiday season, and a safe and productive new year! 🎄 ☃️🎅
This year, Jane the tyrannosaur received the special gift of being designated the holotype of a new species of Nanotyrannus, N. lethaeus! 🦖
This year, Jane the tyrannosaur received the special gift of being designated the holotype of a new species of Nanotyrannus, N. lethaeus! 🦖
Why Santa's elves hate dinosaurs...! 🎄🎅🦖
December 24, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Why Santa's elves hate dinosaurs...! 🎄🎅🦖
Getting in the spirit...! 🎄🎅🦖🎁
December 23, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Getting in the spirit...! 🎄🎅🦖🎁
Apparently Bill Simpson, longtime Collections Manager of fossil vertebrates at the @FieldMuseum in Chicago, is retiring—after 46 yrs! Bill has always been so helpful, including pulling out the skull of @SUEtheTrex for study multiple times! Happy Retirement, Bill! 🎥: Emily Rieff #FossilFriday
December 19, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Apparently Bill Simpson, longtime Collections Manager of fossil vertebrates at the @FieldMuseum in Chicago, is retiring—after 46 yrs! Bill has always been so helpful, including pulling out the skull of @SUEtheTrex for study multiple times! Happy Retirement, Bill! 🎥: Emily Rieff #FossilFriday
Earlier this week, John Noble Wilford (1933–2025)—giant of science journalism & Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter at the @nytimes.com for 50 yrs—passed away. I almost froze when he phoned me to report on my 2001 article in @science.org. Few science reporters like him remain today.
December 12, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Earlier this week, John Noble Wilford (1933–2025)—giant of science journalism & Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter at the @nytimes.com for 50 yrs—passed away. I almost froze when he phoned me to report on my 2001 article in @science.org. Few science reporters like him remain today.
#FossilFriday The awesome new article in Science by
@griffinlabpaleo.bsky.social et al. adds more evidence for the validity of Nanotyrannus by showing that the hyoid bone in the holotype has adult bone histology. Here are some more images showing the ceratobranchial bone in place in the skull. 🦖
@griffinlabpaleo.bsky.social et al. adds more evidence for the validity of Nanotyrannus by showing that the hyoid bone in the holotype has adult bone histology. Here are some more images showing the ceratobranchial bone in place in the skull. 🦖
December 5, 2025 at 10:28 PM
#FossilFriday The awesome new article in Science by
@griffinlabpaleo.bsky.social et al. adds more evidence for the validity of Nanotyrannus by showing that the hyoid bone in the holotype has adult bone histology. Here are some more images showing the ceratobranchial bone in place in the skull. 🦖
@griffinlabpaleo.bsky.social et al. adds more evidence for the validity of Nanotyrannus by showing that the hyoid bone in the holotype has adult bone histology. Here are some more images showing the ceratobranchial bone in place in the skull. 🦖
I learned from the wonderful obit of Mark Norell in Current Biology by Pete Makovicky, Jim Clark, & @stevebrusatte.bsky.social (bit.ly/4rtBlEP) that Mark "was most proud of Unearthing the Dragon," so I pulled it off the shelf & read it cover to cover. It was like hearing Mark's voice again. 🥹
December 1, 2025 at 5:32 PM
I learned from the wonderful obit of Mark Norell in Current Biology by Pete Makovicky, Jim Clark, & @stevebrusatte.bsky.social (bit.ly/4rtBlEP) that Mark "was most proud of Unearthing the Dragon," so I pulled it off the shelf & read it cover to cover. It was like hearing Mark's voice again. 🥹
#HappyThanksgiving from WitmerLab! You have your holiday traditions, and we have ours! Yes, we CT scanned our turkey on our best turkey platter. Science has never been so delicious! And like any good dinosaur biologist, I prepared and accessioned the skeleton—OUVC 10789. 🦃🦖
November 27, 2025 at 5:31 PM
#HappyThanksgiving from WitmerLab! You have your holiday traditions, and we have ours! Yes, we CT scanned our turkey on our best turkey platter. Science has never been so delicious! And like any good dinosaur biologist, I prepared and accessioned the skeleton—OUVC 10789. 🦃🦖
Happy to be a part of this big project led by Mario Bronzati & Matteo Fabbri—out today #OA in @currentbiology.bsky.social
bit.ly/3M5weun —on the brain endocast of a close pterosaur cousin & what it means for pterosaur brain evolution...maybe different from bird brain evolution. 1/2
bit.ly/3M5weun —on the brain endocast of a close pterosaur cousin & what it means for pterosaur brain evolution...maybe different from bird brain evolution. 1/2
November 26, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Happy to be a part of this big project led by Mario Bronzati & Matteo Fabbri—out today #OA in @currentbiology.bsky.social
bit.ly/3M5weun —on the brain endocast of a close pterosaur cousin & what it means for pterosaur brain evolution...maybe different from bird brain evolution. 1/2
bit.ly/3M5weun —on the brain endocast of a close pterosaur cousin & what it means for pterosaur brain evolution...maybe different from bird brain evolution. 1/2
Highly recommended! I just finished a cover-to-cover read, and it's a great addition to the avian sensory ecology literature with excellent discussions of the links between brain & behavior. I prefer reading paper books (better retention) but the whole thing is freely downloadable! bit.ly/482xPZm 🦉🧠
November 20, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Highly recommended! I just finished a cover-to-cover read, and it's a great addition to the avian sensory ecology literature with excellent discussions of the links between brain & behavior. I prefer reading paper books (better retention) but the whole thing is freely downloadable! bit.ly/482xPZm 🦉🧠
The paleo community is mourning the passing of giant. Philippe Taquet passed away on Sunday at 85. I was honored to meet him in his Paris office in 2007. Later that year, we published on a sauropod from his beloved Gadoufaoua in Niger, Africa, & named for him—Sereno et al. 2007: bit.ly/3WZLKdF 🦕
November 18, 2025 at 5:41 PM
The paleo community is mourning the passing of giant. Philippe Taquet passed away on Sunday at 85. I was honored to meet him in his Paris office in 2007. Later that year, we published on a sauropod from his beloved Gadoufaoua in Niger, Africa, & named for him—Sereno et al. 2007: bit.ly/3WZLKdF 🦕
Former lab member Peter Rhynard did a great job presenting his undergrad honors thesis research on the skull of the Allosaurus specimen known as Big Al (MOR 693) at the #2025SVP meeting! Thanks to @seishirotada.bsky.social for the photos since I was unable to attend myself!
November 13, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Former lab member Peter Rhynard did a great job presenting his undergrad honors thesis research on the skull of the Allosaurus specimen known as Big Al (MOR 693) at the #2025SVP meeting! Thanks to @seishirotada.bsky.social for the photos since I was unable to attend myself!
We'll close out this #FossilFriday with the obvious choice of Nanotyrannus. I couldn't share this CT scanning session at the time (June 2023) but can now. @jgn-paleo.bsky.social brought the holotype Cleveland skull he had on loan, and CMNH VP curator Caitlin Colleary & I joined in the fun!
October 31, 2025 at 6:51 PM
We'll close out this #FossilFriday with the obvious choice of Nanotyrannus. I couldn't share this CT scanning session at the time (June 2023) but can now. @jgn-paleo.bsky.social brought the holotype Cleveland skull he had on loan, and CMNH VP curator Caitlin Colleary & I joined in the fun!
Shamini Bundell @shamini.bsky.social at @nature.com, knowing that I had written the N&V commentary (rdcu.be/eNv94) on the Zanno & Napoli article on Nanotyrannus, contacted me earlier this week to film a quick video that provides some background. Shamini did a great job with it! I need a haircut.
Decades of debate over the identity of a medium-sized Cretaceous predator may finally be over
Read more: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Read more: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
October 31, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Shamini Bundell @shamini.bsky.social at @nature.com, knowing that I had written the N&V commentary (rdcu.be/eNv94) on the Zanno & Napoli article on Nanotyrannus, contacted me earlier this week to film a quick video that provides some background. Shamini did a great job with it! I need a haircut.
Reposted by WitmerLab at Ohio University
This @witmerlab.bsky.social piece about l'affair Nanotyrannus is extremely sharp and even-handed about some of the dynamics that made this particular argument so contentious and -- occasionally -- bitter
rdcu.be/eNv94
rdcu.be/eNv94
October 30, 2025 at 10:00 PM
This @witmerlab.bsky.social piece about l'affair Nanotyrannus is extremely sharp and even-handed about some of the dynamics that made this particular argument so contentious and -- occasionally -- bitter
rdcu.be/eNv94
rdcu.be/eNv94
Today's bombshell in @nature.com by Lindsay Zanno & James Napoli @jgn-paleo.bsky.social (bit.ly/4qBE6ng) shows that putative juvvy T. rex fossils actually are Nanotyrannus. I reviewed the manuscript, so Nature invited me to write the News & Views commentary. Free link: rdcu.be/eNv94 🦖
October 30, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Today's bombshell in @nature.com by Lindsay Zanno & James Napoli @jgn-paleo.bsky.social (bit.ly/4qBE6ng) shows that putative juvvy T. rex fossils actually are Nanotyrannus. I reviewed the manuscript, so Nature invited me to write the News & Views commentary. Free link: rdcu.be/eNv94 🦖
Reposted by WitmerLab at Ohio University
Interested in fossils? Brains? Reptiles?
Want to study how reptile (particularly squamate) brains and senses changed over time?
Want to be part of an international team studying the evolution of cognition?
Then apply for our Univ of Edinburgh PhD project!
e5-dtp.ed.ac.uk/project?item...
Want to study how reptile (particularly squamate) brains and senses changed over time?
Want to be part of an international team studying the evolution of cognition?
Then apply for our Univ of Edinburgh PhD project!
e5-dtp.ed.ac.uk/project?item...
Project | E5 Doctoral Training Partnership | E5 Doctoral Training Partnership
The project advertisement
e5-dtp.ed.ac.uk
October 16, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Interested in fossils? Brains? Reptiles?
Want to study how reptile (particularly squamate) brains and senses changed over time?
Want to be part of an international team studying the evolution of cognition?
Then apply for our Univ of Edinburgh PhD project!
e5-dtp.ed.ac.uk/project?item...
Want to study how reptile (particularly squamate) brains and senses changed over time?
Want to be part of an international team studying the evolution of cognition?
Then apply for our Univ of Edinburgh PhD project!
e5-dtp.ed.ac.uk/project?item...
It's #NationalFossilDay here in the USA, so here's a photo of our T. rex brain endocast based on a US national fossil—AMNH 5117. The surprise was to see it on exhibit in Japan at the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum. Feel free to print one of your own: skfb.ly/Mqsq ! 🦖
October 15, 2025 at 8:20 PM
It's #NationalFossilDay here in the USA, so here's a photo of our T. rex brain endocast based on a US national fossil—AMNH 5117. The surprise was to see it on exhibit in Japan at the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum. Feel free to print one of your own: skfb.ly/Mqsq ! 🦖
If you haven't read—or re-read in a while—Bakker's 1986 classic The Dinosaur Heresies, it's well worth doing. I read it in 1986 & again on my recent trip to Japan. Got a pb copy for $10 for the long trip (1st photo) rather than take my signed 1st ed (got John Gurche to sign his cover art, too!). 🦖
October 12, 2025 at 9:14 PM
If you haven't read—or re-read in a while—Bakker's 1986 classic The Dinosaur Heresies, it's well worth doing. I read it in 1986 & again on my recent trip to Japan. Got a pb copy for $10 for the long trip (1st photo) rather than take my signed 1st ed (got John Gurche to sign his cover art, too!). 🦖
Excited to see this new #OA article out on turtle head vasculature, led by @seishirotada.bsky.social. It was part of Sei's PhD diss. So much fun injection, dissection, sawing, & µCT of turtles & lizards in the lab with Sei and DJ Morgan—leading to this really nice article! doi.org/10.1186/s133... 🐢
October 7, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Excited to see this new #OA article out on turtle head vasculature, led by @seishirotada.bsky.social. It was part of Sei's PhD diss. So much fun injection, dissection, sawing, & µCT of turtles & lizards in the lab with Sei and DJ Morgan—leading to this really nice article! doi.org/10.1186/s133... 🐢